Delheim is seventh BWI Champion
- by Wired Communications
Delheim Wines of the Simonsberg Ward in Stellenbosch, South Africa, was one of the first wine farms to become a Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) member. Having now introduced its sophisticated waste water management plan on the farm, Delheim has been certified a BWI Champion and is the seventh South African wine farm to achieve this status.
To qualify as a champion, a BWI member must develop a Conservation Management Plan for approval by the BWI and, then demonstrate and prove that it has implemented key scheduled activities within the plan. Champions must have had a minimum two-year track record of good conservation practice and, once awarded Championship status, must present tangible results of their commitment to biodiversity conservation regularly.
Delheim has installed a highly sophisticated water purification system to recycle all the water on the farm - from its cellar, the restaurant, the residences and all the farm buildings - and this recycled water provides irrigation for the vineyards and residential gardens. Instead of using insecticides to control aphids in the vineyards, Delheim uses parasites to control them naturally.
Delheim family owners, the Sperlings have also always been fond of trees. Spatz Sperling plants indigenous trees on the farm to mark every significant family occasion. And on Klapmutskop Conservancy, which was established by Delheim in 2004, a 300-year old yellowwood was discovered and is recorded as the oldest tree in an indigenous yellowwood forest in the country. South Africa's national tree - the Silver tree - occurs naturally at Delheim and there is a pair of breeding Blue Cranes (our national bird) on the farm. Fish eagles are seen and heard regularly at Delheim.
Nora Sperling-Thiel says: "We've been farming this land for many years and we understand how important it is to put back what you take out. We owe it to the land and to the wine industry to cherish our environment. We are committed to living up to our new Championship status."
Notes:
1. Delheim recently won the Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices Award Great Wine Capitals Global Network Best of Wine Tourism Awards.
2. The Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) won a 2007Cape Times Environment Award, giving recognition to the conservation work that wine farms are now doing - individually and collectively.
3. The Klapmutskop Conservancy, which was the Cape Fox 2007 winner for the best managed conservancy, has now been extended by three and half times its original size to include Muratie, Delheim (the main farm), Quoin Rock, Knorhoek, Kanonkop, Uitkyk, Rustenberg, Thelema and Marklew. A Biodiversity Information Centre has been established at Delvera, which is the hub for the Klapmutskop Conservancy. This centre helps to create awareness among visitors about conservation management - anything from bio-control to waste water management and recycling.
